NEW DELHI: Amid intense tensions with China throughout LAC, India will host the third edition of the 2 + 2 ministerial dialogue with the United States from October 26 to 27.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, S Jaishankar, and the Minister of Defense Rajnath singh will meet with his American counterparts, the secretary of state Mike pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark T Esper, in New Delhi next week. Pompeo and Esper are also likely to call on Prime Minister Modi and national security adviser Ajit Doval during their visit.
The talks, which will take place a week before the US presidential election on November 3 and in the context of a protracted showdown across LAC, are likely to be another frontier in the ever-expanding strategic embrace between the two. nations.
What is a ‘2 + 2’ dialogue?
The “two plus two” talks refer to a bilateral meeting of the ministers or secretaries of Defense and Foreign Relations of two countries. The format, derived from Japan, aims to facilitate high-level diplomatic and political engagement between two nations for security and defense cooperation.
When were the 2 + 2 talks between India and the United States first announced?
Prime Minister Modi and President Trump announced the 2 + 2 Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense Dialogue Mechanism during their first meeting in 2017. The inaugural dialogue was held in Delhi in September 2018, followed by its second edition in Washington in December of last year.
The ‘2 + 2’ dialogue has replaced the Strategic and Trade Dialogue between the foreign and trade ministers of the two countries that took place during the Obama administration. Aside from India, the United States holds such ministerial dialogues only with Australia and Japan.
Addressing the ‘dragon in the room’
This year’s 2 + 2 meeting comes at a critical time, as India is witnessing its worst showdown with China in 45 years. The Trump administration has criticized China’s territorial disputes with other nations and has repeatedly denounced it for its aggressive actions. Speaking about the LAC dispute recently, Mike Pompeo had said that China has a pattern of instigating territorial disputes with its neighbors and that the world should not allow this “harassment.”
The meeting also comes shortly after the Quad dialogue in Tokyo, which called for the formalization of the 4-nation group comprising India, the United States, Australia and Japan. China has raised concerns about the Quad group and sees increased security cooperation between India and the US as a threat to its ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.
Also, the Chinese are moving the South China Sea, the continued genocide in Tibet and Xinjiang, the saber rattling against Taiwan, and the relentless actions in Hong Kong could also be part of the upcoming Indo-American deliberations.
COVID-19 pandemic
In addition to China, the Covid-19 pandemic is also likely to feature during high-level talks. The Trump administration has admonished China for allowing the “Wuhan” virus to take on the scale it does, and is seeking to cooperate with nations like India to jointly manufacture and distribute vaccines.
Before the meeting, the officials discussed joint efforts to develop and produce the vaccines between the two countries. They said vaccine development has taken off at a “remarkable rate” with more than half a dozen US companies and institutions working on vaccine research with Indian partners such as the Serum Institute of India.
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Speculation abounds that the Basic Agreement of Exchange and Cooperation (BECA) – a pact with deep military implications – is also on the table, but it is not confirmed if it will be sealed during the talks. BECA will enable India to utilize US geospatial intelligence and improve the accuracy of automated systems and weapons such as missiles and armed drones.
This is the fourth and final founding pact with the United States after the signing of the General Military Information Security Agreement (GSOMIA) of 2002, the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) of 2016, and the Communications, Compatibility and Security Agreement. (COMCASA) 2018. While LEMOA provides reciprocal logistical support, COMCASA has paved the way for India to gain greater access to military technologies. BECA will enable the US to share advanced topographic and satellite data for long-range navigation and missile targeting with India.
Defense acquisitions on the anvil
Expansive defense cooperation has been the lodestar of the broader ties between India and the United States. In the past 13 years, the United States has struck $ 20 billion worth of defense deals with India, managing to displace New Delhi’s military supplier, Russia, for a few years. Several other acquisitions in the field of defense and security acquisitions are in the pipeline this time, and India is now willing to purchase the Predator-B Armored Medium Altitude Long Duration (MALE) drone and other high-tech weapons.
The United States is upset with India for signing the $ 5.43 billion deal for S-400 Triumf missile systems with Russia in October 2018, and following it up with a $ 3 billion deal to lease a US attack submarine. Akula-1 nuclear propulsion in March 2019. Therefore, the US side would seek to pressure the Indian side to stop the purchase of missiles and push New Delhi to reduce its dependence on Moscow for the purchase of weapons.
He talks about a push to expand trade ties between Indo and the United States
The talks gain prominence amid expanding trade ties between New Delhi and Washington. The United States is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, in 2019-20, bilateral trade between the US and India stood at $ 88.75 billion compared to $ 87.96 billion in 2018-19. The United States remained India’s top trading partner for the second consecutive fiscal year in 2019-20.
Noting that both nations are working together to get bilateral trade back on track, an official told PTI that the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation has pledged to support more than $ 500 million in investment projects in India and recently appointed a Managing Director in Mumbai who will help expand its investments in India and the region.
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